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Cowan will be better - no doubt in my mind. Most logical Hibberd replacement in this draft. But 13 is too early and 37 is too late for him.... Will be a gun & will play next year (Cowan)

Whilst I agree with the sentiment, I can't agree. It will be utterly devastating when he leaves. The most raw talented player we've had at the club since Jurrah - and he has the work ethic, defense first, team ethos, star power, looks and aggression to boot. Not to mention an extremely rare combination of endurance and speed. Higher output than any small forward in the game and still underrated outside Melbourne fans. Despite all that, you'd be looking at Rankine's trade as the absolute ceiling of what we could get - but we won't. Personally I wouldn't trade him for 2 firsts. Anyway back on topic - believe the player will be Ginbey. Oliver mk2.

Have been watching more and more of this on telly and decided to go to my first aflw game today - great fun. The standard is terrific, particularly in terms of toughness and intensity. Took the 2 yo for his first real AFL outing. Wish he had some of the girls toughness gee whiz

No small amount of Andy Brayshaw in this kid

Surely couldn't get him ...will be gone by 10 let alone 13

Thinking about it makes me very sad Worst part is we wouldn't get more than a mid to late first rounder - he's criminally underrated outside of Melbourne fans given his output at his age attitude and star factor Oh it's so sad to think about

Nope. Won't be the best player from this draft

Yep, he, Ginbey and Sheezel will be the best players from this draft. Bookmark it.

I've said before on here that Knightmare is a horrible judge of talent and lacks any real feel or understanding for the game. He gets very little correct and when he does, it's because he covered every eventuality. He's very dedicated but for a guy who puts in as much time as he does, the fact he doesn't have either a) a permanent reporting gig (ESPN just pay him per column) nor b) a role in AFL land, speaks for itself Pay his semi literature rambling musings no mind

None of them rangy at all in their youth

I might be alone but I have doubts on Phillippou. I don't trust rangy draft picks and have seen plenty fail to make the step up. Similiar to key forwards who are drafted in the top 10, it's hard to tell whether their height/reach physical development is their advantage over their peers (Weideman, Schache, many others), or whether it's actually football ability. Bontempelli the most obvious outlier that I can remember - it wasn't until he was in the system that he turned into an absolute unit and competitive beast. I think we're a young dynamic mid short from a list perspective and would be looking at Hollands / Brayden George etc instead Seems common knowledge that Pickett is basically gone for 2024 already, which is incredibly depressing

To be fair, Weid has had days like that in the VFL probably on >5 occasions. Often against better opposition - including his memorable day out at Box Hill against the Hawks. These highlights were against Coburg Lions. They went 4-14 for the season and havent finished outside the bottom 4 since 2014 after losing their AFL affiliated team. A couple of nice marks at the end but the majority were relatively uncontested - his off the ground one in the square bizarrely rewarded his famous lack of intensity. This guy has already changed clubs and the fresh voice didn't do anything. Weid gets the benefit of the doubt there. Doesn't excite me - but I'll get behind him if he joins

It literally says it is in the article

Hardly.... So we can't get what we want (2x F1 1x F2) from Freo in exchange for losing Jackson. Keeping in mind our original ask was two early 1st rounders, so we've already begun to bend over and soften our stance despite claiming we wouldn't. Now, we find out they will add an F2 if we can find an F3. To get said F3, we need to offload a 25yo KPF/Ruck who whilst limited, can be relied upon to fill a role when our ageing rucks and forwards get injured - which in case you haven't noticed, happens a fair bit. Seasoned Ruck and KPF depth that costs sub $450k pa is not easy to find. So not only have we already softened on our original ask - we've are now softening again - not on unproven draft picks, but on senior depth players who was a guarantee of playing 5-15 games next year. We're losing more than we wanted to gain less than we wanted. Overall it makes us weaker. Our recruiting team were the boldest in the land when they took Jackson at no.3. Very few recruiting teams would have taken that ruck with the AA ruckman already playing that role. The guy went on to play in a flag, win a rising star, and now we're having to bed over backwards and jettison senior players to get our 3rd order preference of 'what we want'. Not many ways to sugarcoat it.

Yes - it doesn't make a lot of sense. We can't get what we want, so instead we lose an important depth player? Surely then we're still short on 'what we want?' If Freo have set out to make a rival weaker, they will have succeeded if this is how it goes down.

Can I just get in front of something...there is every chance Weideman makes a good fist out of a stint at a second club. This does not mean we could have gotten the best out of him - it means he needed the wake up call

Why would Jackson care what his trade collateral is? He knows how Freo value him in the most tangible way possible - the $$ they have promised He could be traded for a new Laptop and a bag of redskins & I'm betting he'd still be happy with the $$ he's taking away to play footy from home This idea that he's going to shutter his future earnings just to repay us morally for having drafted & developed him is just nonsense.

It's not odd and it's not unique to AFL Loss making businesses are often valued far more highly than those consistently profitable - all on the basis of earnings potential not having yet been proven Same story in the AFL - what's unknown is often far more valuable than what's known Everyone wants to strike Gold...

Jacob Van Rooyen comes to mind

Jacko would have said very little to us directly. The agents are the mouthpieces so as to deliberately obfuscate true intentions Honestly it's not as simple as looking the bloke in the eye - it's all very guarded

Weird hill to die on mate. Selwood the only 'current' player who was there for 2007. Selwood and Hawkins the only players who were there for 2009. In fact - whilst I said 2 flags, only 3 players were there for 2012 - Selwood, Hawkins, Duncan. So you could argue they've only won 1 with this current list. Prem windows last c.6-10 years usually off the back of a core cohort hitting 23/24 until they reach 30-34. They only grabbed one right at the end, aided by a couple of multi-flag heroes that have had long and storied careers, who they will not replace with ease. I'm not sure how else I can make my point?

Agreed on selection policies & standards - my culture thread makes my views on that very clear! Re. their 3 recruits being well prepared - it is true they're more advanced than JVR Taj Laurie AMW etc. What you're missing though is that short of injuries or back luck, we aren't yet reliant on those guys coming into the team. Most could all have another 3-4 years before they're absolutely required to step in, because our core cohort is in the right age bracket. Geelong can insert Bruhn, Henry and Bowes to replace Selwood, Hawkins and Tuohy across 23 and 24 - that's fine, each of the 3 recruits look like good players. But there's nothing to suggest they are close to the calibre of those they are replacing - which is what Geelong need to stay on top. This is my point. They've got some good players in the right age brackets, but in all respects, they are role players (perhaps other than De Koning). It remains to be seen whether they can transition from role players to game winners without the current Senior crop dragging them over the line. That's not true for us - our young and mid-20s players are winning us games and have done now for 2 seasons (Gawn and May the exception as I noted). They've had a sustained successful period with this list, but only 2 flags a long time apart. I wouldn't call that a dynasty given the players they've had at their disposal. The Tigers achieved more with less. Agreed not going to debar them from winning again in 23 - but as I said I know who I'd rather support.

Wouldn't stress about it DD. Think of it this way - when Oppo teams are coming up against the Dees - the fans are filled with dread at the thought of Petracca, Oliver, Pickett, Fritsch, Langdon Gawn and May. Gawn & May are at/nearing 30 & we will need to find good replacements (Grundy a good start for a few years), but Trac, Oliver, Pickett, Fritsch & Langdon have years ahead of them, hopefully at the Dees. We are filled with dread when we play Geelong too - but its in reference to Hawkins (34), Selwood (Retired), Dangerfield (32), Smith (33), Cameron (29). Stengle is good, but benefited from the fresh voice, new energy & sympathetic coaching of Eddie. Like us with Mark Williams, this will fade & I have doubts on him going on to become a multi-time AA. Pickett has already proven his consistency and quality on and off-field (presuming we can keep him!). If he was picking up the crumbs of Hawkins and Cameron, he too would be AA and then some. Cameron is 29 and is the weapon we don't have. He'll keep them competitive for years, but will be less effective once Hawkins moves on. De Koning is very good - but unproven over the medium/long term - and the guys they're bringing in are all talented but also unproven. They'll have ups & downs before they get to 25-27 not to mention significantly change the mindset/chemistry of the current team presuming they all make the 22. Probably more than any other team in the competition, we have a proven cohort of 24-27 year olds that are top-line and should keep us in the hunt for the next 3-6 years. They've been through their ups and downs already. We're the envy of the comp in this regard. Even on the next tier down - Geelong have very good players yes - Guthrie (30), Stewart (29) - arguably equivalent to Brayshaw (27), Salem (27) when on form. Jack Henry is very good and young (24) - but Petty is arguably his equal (22). Tuohy & Hibberd are analogous too. Swings and roundabouts across the rest of the field - they've got good role players in some spots, we have good role players in others. Most of this Geelong group played their entire careers together and have only saluted at the end after a dream season where everything went right. They had to change their coaching, gameplan and get quite a few fresh voices to get across the last 15% they lacked in previous years. They're always a strong team, and the home ground advantage ensures that, but they're hardly on the cusp of a dynasty. I'm not saying this year was their dead cat bounce, but I think of it a little along those lines. In many respects it was their last chance. Let them enjoy it as its unlikely to last. Our guys went through the [censored] together and came out the other side whilst they're still in their prime. That counts for so much more. Ditto for our supporters - Geelong fans think they've enjoyed this flag. Truthfully they've got no idea what it feels like to see the entire journey start to finish. I've been vocal on our shortcomings this year and I may be wrong - there are no guarantees in either direction - but I know which team I'd rather support from this point on.

May come back to bite me but if so this is a good thing. High bust potential.

I have a high degree of faith that Bedford will be a better player than Bobby Hill. He kicked 9 goals this year despite really only playing 6 games. ANB & Spargo kicked the same number despite playing 22. He's of very high output in what is arguably the most difficult position on the ground. He's of very high character & work ethic and that's evident in his development so far, as he was extremely raw on arrival as a NGA prospect. It would also be very clear to GWS having interviewed him. Very coachable, dedicated to improvement, and if I think back as far as the "hell & back' videos, he was in there doing extras to try and set an example for a very raw Kozzie despite probably knowing Kozzie was going to take his spot in the AFL side. Billy Stretch also had all of these attributes, but had limited points of difference on the field. Nonetheless he had an OK career and on another day could have continued playing AFL in a good team. Bedford has points of difference with his pure speed and goalsense. Bobby Hill by contrast was highly touted, has shown flashes and undoubtedly has more natural talent, but I'm not convinced he is of particularly high character or work ethic. He has pushed through some personal difficulties which is admirable. Assuming a player has some points of difference, hard work beats talent every time. I think this is where the FD is coming from and why they're upset to lose him. Lamb's body language noticeably fell in the Monday press conference when Bedford was brought up. Having said all that it's unlikely we get something in the 30s for him. It's an ordinary outcome as we're selling at the exact wrong time - on the precipice of breaking into the team and really upping his worth. I suspect if this was an end of 23 conversation, he'd be up for a 2nd/3rd rounder at least.